News from the Research Administration and Compliance Office at the University of California, Berkeley

October 27, 2014

NIH Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Guidance

As of October 17, 2014, the National Institutes of Health began requiring grantees to submit all type 5 progress reports (non-competing continuation applications) using the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) module in eRA Commons. See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-15-014.

Note: For SNAP awards, UC Berkeley PIs may submit the RPPR report directly to NIH if they have been delegated submission authority by SPO.

Individual Development Plans (IDPs)

All NIH progress reports (RPPRs) submitted after October 1, 2014 must include in Section D - List of Participants - a brief description of how and whether individual development plans (IDPs) are used to identify and promote the career goals of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers associated with the award. Actual IDPs should not be included. (For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-14-113.)

The following statement is provided to assist Berkeley PIs respond to Section D of the RPPR:

“Berkeley graduate students and postdocs are encouraged to utilize IDPs to set academic and career goals and facilitate conversations with their mentor(s). Similarly, Berkeley faculty mentors are encouraged to promote the use of IDPs among their trainees. Over the next few months, Berkeley will establish a working group to move towards implementing more targeted information and training sessions to help facilitate the use of IDPs.”